news Second Grenfell Tower inquiry play to put Eric Pickles in spotlight | Grenfell Tower inquiry

A play dramatizing the “merry-go-round of buck-passing” at the Grenfell Tower public inquiry will open in February, casting actors as Eric Pickles, the former housing

secretary, and Hisam Choucair, who lost six members of his family in the 2017 fire.Grenfell: System Failure will be the sequel to a critically acclaimed verbatim play exploring the

disastrous construction project that led to west London council block being clad in plastic panels that burned like petrol.Lord Pickles, who stunned the bereaved when he complained

that questioning at the inquiry might make him late for his next appointment, was accused of failing to tighten building regulations after an earlier fire, despite being instructed

to do so by a coroner.Pickles giving evidence at the inquiry in April. Photograph: YouTubeThe play will show him being cross-examined by Richard Millett KC, who closed the evidence

sessions last month by saying that after hearings over four years in which different companies, public bodies and agencies had blamed each other, “the merry-go-round turns

still”.David Cameron's “assault on red tape”, which he launched in the coalition government and prevented ministers from introducing regulations unless they scrapped at least

one other rule, will also be scrutinized.The show is the latest cultural response to the inquiry, which has included several other plays, books, podcasts and TV programs.Written by

Richard Norton-Taylor, a playwright and former Guardian journalist, and directed by Nicolas Kent, the show will spotlight the stories of two families devastated by the fire – the

Choucairs and the relatives of Saber Neda, an Afghan army officer who came to the UK in 1998 after fleeing the Taliban and worked as a minicab driver. His wife and son escaped

their 23rd floor flat through thick smoke; he was going to follow, but stayed behind to help two other women. He fell from the top floor.The pair's previous play, Grenfell: Value

Engineering did not feature any of the bereaved or survivors, but focused on the building companies, council officials, experts and firefighters.Choucair told the inquiry the

council did not contact him for days after the fire as he searched for his mother, sister, brother-in-law and their three daughters – all of whom died.He described the prospect

of his testimony being dramatized as “a bit strange”, but told the Guardian: “I hope that what has been said will be understood and taken seriously. I hope the seriousness of

what was said is put into the theatre.”Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morningPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may